The week of 10/29 will be a challenge since it is a very busy week.  Between the usual working M-F 8 - 5 there is teaching on Monday and Wednesday night.  Argentine Tango on Tuesday and Friday night with my husband, a presentation to a homeowners association on Thursday night, lecturing on the beginnings of astronomy (which I am just starting to learn about) on Saturday morning for 5 hours, a literary group meeting on Saturday afternoon, a GPS class for Illinois Lakes Management Association for 6 hours on Sunday that I am assisting, and then a 2 day class/conference in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday & Wednesday next week.  Wow - what a crazy week ahead!

Week of 10/28

I just came back from a mini - 4 day vacation to southern Illinois where we visited several parks in the Shawnee National Forest.  The landscape there is spectacular, especially with the fall colors.  I  encourage everyone to visit Garden of the Gods State Park.  It can be a little disconcerting with young kids and dogs, since there are no hand rails or guards and everyone is tempted to climb on the rocks and view the steep drops.  I wonder how many people get hurt here each year.  We had a large group of 9 kids, 2 dogs, and 7 adults.  Trying to organize this group to anything was a bit of a challenge, but we manage to enjoy camping in the cold and hiking.  At least it was not raining when the kids were there.  Cold and dry is doable as long as we had a big campfire.

 

Garden of the Gods State Park - photo from http://www.shawneeforest.com/Hiking/GardenoftheGods.aspx